Take note Knights On White Chargers (or in red sports cars): these are the perfect places to book for a romantic mini break.
If you’re romantic mini breaking at the stage of your relationship when you need a love nest, there could be nothing more idyllic and nesty than The Dovecote in Oxfordshire. An octagon of brick with a lantern roof that lets the light in, this dovecote was once home to more than a thousand doves, now the ‘potency’ remains = a technical term for the ladder, now augmented with a spiral staircase, and the central post and loft, but the birds are gone and there’s only space for two in the spa and double shower. For a less literal love nest, the Dunmore Pineapple is one of the most unusual romantic mini break destinations in the UK. The roof of this ex-hot-house is a very literal reproduction of a giant stone pineapple and the interior is laid out over two floors, but romantic mini breakers will have to create their own steam, the hot house piping system has been shut down. If Buckinghamshire is closer, Blickling Hall’s Jacobean Tower is another romantically renovated love nest, complete with roof terrace, plush, warm fabrics and views to the coast. The legends of a ghost in the hall will only serve to bring you closer as the sun sets.
Nothing says ‘getting out of town’ like building-less views. Which are exactly what greets romantic mini breakers gazing from the windows of Clavell Tower on Kimmeridge Bay, Dorset. Built in 1830 as an observatory and a folly, this tower stands alone against the wide sweep of ocean, a romantic Tuscan-esque structure and the inspiration for Thomas Hardy’s Wessex Poems, and now fitted out just for two. Continuing the theme of tower-with-ocean-views, Martello Tower in Suffolk, is a romantic mini break fortress in thick brick that looks like a four leafed clover in aerial photos. The moat and thick walls may not seem cosy and romantic until you’re on the inside of them in front of the huge fireplace listening to the terribly exciting sound of the waves crashing outside. Romantic Mini breakers staying at Ballyportry Castle in Ireland will be able to make as much noise as they like, this tower has been been standing alone on this cliff top for more than 500 years, exposed beams, roaring peat fires and all. The Summer House, still qualifies as a tower for two – it’s an odd building, built as an ‘Elizabethan banqueting tower’, but what romantic mini breakers will want to know is that it’s pretty, has pretty views, is quite a way from the nearest ears, and has a roof terrace, four poster bed and generous fire place.
If a romantic mini break means not having to do anything for yourself then a castle hotel will be closer to the dream. You still get the four poster and spa but someone else will get the fire crackling. Thornbury Castle was the romantic mini break choice of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, and you can sleep in their boudoir for around £300 a night. Amberley Castle used to belong to Elizabeth I and still has a moat and portcullis — stay awake until midnight and watch it being closed for the night — but it’s now much warmer and plusher inside. Or romantic mini break in individualized four poster, stylish bathroom-ed luxury and comfort at Langley Castle or Grade 1 listed but super stylish Blencow Hall.
